After a driveshaft problem affected his qualifying, Max Verstappen put on an impressive performance in Jeddah, climbing up from 15th to finish second behind Perez who took the victory from pole position.
Red Bull staff celebrated with Perez after his win in Jeddah, but Jos Verstappen, the father of Max Verstappen, did not appear to be in a particularly enthusiastic mood at the time.
“Of course we all want to win. But that wasn’t on the cards today. The margin was too small for that,” said Jos Verstappen when speaking to Formule1.nl
“[Perez] doesn’t get the chance that often, I think. He sees that too and then goes for it.”
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Despite Red Bull’s dominance in the 2022 drivers’ and constructors’ championships, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez had unexpected friction at the Brazilian Grand Prix, exposing the tension between the two drivers.
Max Verstappen had a strong chance of claiming pole position, but his run was halted by a drive shaft problem.
“It was now disappointing for us in qualifying,” his father reflected.
“Pure bad luck, I won’t go into that. We know what it is. But otherwise, Max just drives easily to that pole position. And then the race is a bit easier.
“Because we actually predicted: it is quite difficult to come forward here. This is a circuit with long turners, it’s hard to make a difference there. We need to have tougher tracks and more corners.”
Red Bull’s dominance in the early stages of the season was highlighted by Max Verstappen’s win in Bahrain and Sergio Perez’s triumph in Saudi Arabia, indicating that they are a formidable force to beat.
“It looks like we’re going to be dominant,” Jos said. “We have a very good car.
“If you saw how easily they drove away now: a second faster. Can the rest of that be made up this year? I don’t know. But it’s not like we’re standing still, is it? We also come with updates.”
Max currently leads his teammate in the F1 standings, both having won a race each, with Max claiming the additional point for the fastest lap in Jeddah.
The relationship between the Red Bull drivers was strained further when Sergio Perez suggested that he had not received sufficient information to secure the bonus point for the fastest lap, causing further concerns within the team.
“I just knew he was going to do it,” Jos said about his son’s fastest lap. “Nice, isn’t it? At least that way he remains the leader in the championship.”
